Celestial Tournament Updates

The Celestial Tournament, a place where players can battle celestial battle pets and famous pet battle tamers for cool prizes, is a bit more festive on the PTR now. There are tons of spectators and banners, as well as new vendors who sell noodle bowls and the new alcoholic drink Dragon P.I.E.!

The available teams were tweaked since last week as well--Nairn, a tribute to Kristian Nairn who plays Hodor on Game of Thrones, now has a battle pet ability tribute as well--Nairn!, which is strong against undead. He's also joined by a new direwolf pet, Summer.

There were also some new teams after Tuesday's reset--including Sully who has an Undead Socks pet, and Lorewalker Cho. Players can also now heal battle pets inside the tournament from Cowardly Zue, but your tournament progress will be reset.

Legendary Questline Clarifications

With players now able to complete their legendary cloaks on the 5.4 PTR, there's been a lot of discussion about the chain and what older rewards can be used in the new patch. Lore offered some details:

For players who have diligently worked on the legendary questline each patch, it's intended that their cloaks will be completed very early on in 5.4. This will allow the cloaks to be of use in progressing through Siege of Orgrimmar, instead of being completed when the content is more trivial.

Also on the PTR, if you finish the whole legendary questline, your image is then displayed by Mogu'shan Palace in Vale of Eternal Blossoms--a nice vanity touch.

Click the cut for the blue posts!

Sha-Touched Gems and Sockets

Lore

The legendary meta gem will still function, but Sha-touched gems and sockets will not be applicable to new 5.4 items.We updated the 5.2 weapons to allow the additional socket (but not the Sha-touched gems) because a very large number of players were getting their extra sockets just in time for the patch to drop (and thus, would only be able to use their reward for a week or two). That's not the case with 5.4. The 5.2 legendary meta gem will continue to function, and the 5.3 epic cloak will upgrade into the 5.4 legendary.

We feel that, at this point, the Sha-Touched gem and socket have had plenty of time to be useful and it's time for them to go. As Lothrik mentioned, we'll be balancing content assuming that they're not present anyway. That said, nothing on the PTR is final, and we are still open to discussion on the topic.

Lore

One extra note: we will be buffing the Tank (Indomitable Primal Diamond) meta gem in a future build. We'll be removing the haste scaling from its proc chance, but increasing its base chance by 50%. That should make it activate much more regularly, even for tanks who stack haste, than the previous iteration.

We recognize that a lot of tanks are preferring the DPS meta gem at the moment, and we'd like to correct that, but we'd like to do it by making you like the tank gem, not by nerfing the DPS gem.

Legendary Cloaks

Lore

Assuming you're all caught up on the quest, yes! You should be able to get your legendary cloak pretty quickly once Patch 5.4 hits.

The reasoning is simple: we want you to be able to use it for progression. Past legendaries (including the earlier bits of the Mists of Pandaria chain) have typically taken a pretty decent amount of time before you're able to get them. That's great for heading into the next tier (or finishing up the current one), but when the next tier is in a new expansion, it can leave them feeling a little... flat. You end up using them mostly for farm, and then you replace them once the next expansion hits and you outlevel them.

It also feels a little strange thematically. "We need to properly gear you for the fight against the Lich King so uh... go kill the Lich King!" Bit awkward, but required for gameplay purposes. A legendary doesn't feel terribly legendary if there's no effort involved in obtaining it.

So, since you've been working so closely with Wrathion over the course of the expansion already, it makes sense that he'd want to equip you properly for the final resolution of the Alliance vs Horde conflict -- before you set foot in Orgrimmar. And since you've put in so much effort up til this point (starting in patch 5.0 and continuing up through patch 5.3), we don't really need to add more.

We've obviously been experimenting a bit with how players earn legendaries in this expansion, so continued feedback (both on how you earn them as well as the actual legendary items themselves) is extremely valuable. Thanks!We actually have an alternate proc in the works for Hunters, we just weren't able to get it ready in time for this PTR push. Giving you the melee proc off of your pets was just a temporary measure :)

Comments

Comment by IcyFrozen

on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 11:45:49 -0500

The blue text on getting our cloaks quickly after 5.4, does that imply nerfs to the challenges or the effect of item level creep? Frankly I'm more excited about them nerfing the stupid bloods in Xuen's challenge then I am about Timeless Isle.

Comment by CalaelenDT

on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 12:02:48 -0500

The blue text on getting our cloaks quickly after 5.4, does that imply nerfs to the challenges or the effect of item level creep?

It implies neither, it just means that there won't be any time consuming gathering quests like there were for the previous stages of the Legendary questline, so people will be able to upgrade their cloaks pretty quickly.

You seem to be confusing his statement of "getting the legendary cloak quickly" with "getting the cloak quickly". He statement just applies to upgrading the Epic cloak to it's Legendary version, and not the obtaining of the Epic cloak itself, which remains unaltered (as far as this post goes).

Comment by Siegfrid

on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 13:32:25 -0500

I honestly had no problem doing the healer challenge, don't really know about the others, but the healers one was not that hard :)

Comment by groovz

on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 14:18:21 -0500

I honestly had no problem doing the healer challenge, don't really know about the others, but the healers one was not that hard :)

I have People on my Real ID friends list from all the challenges (Tank Melee DPS, Healer, Caster) and after what I have been told from each of them I've arrived at the conclusion that...

The Healer Cloak Challenge is the Easiest.The Melee Cloak Challenge Is the hardest.Both Tank and Caster Changes Depend not just on your Class but also on whether the selection of Talents you've chosen and your playstyle align closely with the way that the challenge is intended to be complete....Basically,

The Tank and Caster Challenges all come down to yoyr playstyle to determine their difficulty where as the Healer one Appears easier for all healers and the Melee Challenge appears to be hard for all Melee.

Going on what I have been told and what I have read on WoWhead and World of Warcraft forums anyway.

Comment by Mantrhax

on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 14:48:59 -0500

LoreYou should be able to get your legendary cloak pretty quickly once Patch 5.4 hits.

I dont think so, i gave up trying to pass de DPS quest, looks like its made for few ones that can do it, not for the average player.

Why one quest is easier and the other one almost impossible? is that "working as intended" or just BS from dev's?

Comment by CalaelenDT

on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 15:00:56 -0500

The only reason the Melee challenge was "difficult" was because the ground thing that Wrathion does would hit you even if you were well out of the graphic.

Took me a few attempts to figure out the mechanics, but other than that it wasn't that bad and I quite enjoyed the challenge.

This is the prime example of never being able to do the right thing though, if they add in something that's a challenge people complain how hard it is and if they make it super easy people complain how it's so faceroll wellfare.

Comment by BosephHeyden

on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 17:18:57 -0500

They really need to make the legendary cloak upgradeable...or just make it iLevel 608 naturally. The melee strength proc is a cleave, and seems really useless (in fact, it seems like it will cause more harm than good, since there are bound to be close-quarter fights where not hitting an opponent is ideal). The whole idea of a legendary is that it is supposed to be better than every other item that is current at the time. But if I have to choose between losing eight item levels and useful stats to gain a cleave? Ten times out of ten I'm choosing stats.

Also, on the challenges. I think that's the first thing Blizzard did right with this quest chain. LFR raiders and regular raiders have been on equal footing for a type of item that, by nature, is supposed to be hard to gain while it is current. Beating the melee challenge as a Frost DK was the single most rewarding experience I've had in all of MoP, and that is sad. From the beginning, they should have at least allowed regular raiders to gain Sigils, Secrets, and Runestones on regular boss drops as well as LFR boss drops, since they're really the only ones that will see an actual benefit. It will be really depressing once 5.4 hits and I see RPers that only do LFR for story purposes slowly walking around the Shrine in their white gear wearing a cloak they have no business owning.

Comment by Rankkor

on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 17:43:32 -0500

The only reason the Melee challenge was "difficult" was because the ground thing that Wrathion does would hit you even if you were well out of the graphic.

Took me a few attempts to figure out the mechanics, but other than that it wasn't that bad and I quite enjoyed the challenge.

This is the prime example of never being able to do the right thing though, if they add in something that's a challenge people complain how hard it is and if they make it super easy people complain how it's so faceroll wellfare.

People do this all the time, and sadly, they get away with it most of the time as well.

None of the Celestial Challenges are impossible, for any class (though you may have to use a specific spec for some of the DPS ones). So many whined about the Green Fire quest being too hard, but as it turns out, its quite doable, its all about owning the mechanics. Repetition and practice helps achieve that goal.

They really need to make the legendary cloak upgradeable...or just make it iLevel 608 naturally. The melee strength proc is a cleave, and seems really useless (in fact, it seems like it will cause more harm than good, since there are bound to be close-quarter fights where not hitting an opponent is ideal). The whole idea of a legendary is that it is supposed to be better than every other item that is current at the time. But if I have to choose between losing eight item levels and useful stats to gain a cleave? Ten times out of ten I'm choosing stats.

You do realize that the legendary version of the cloak, even in its ilvl 600 state STILL has better stats than the 608 version of the DPS cloak. Right? So you're gaining more stats AND gaining a useful proc. Cleave or not, extra free damage is extra free damage, you can still do your normal rotation while the cleave is happening.

Comment by Agramon

on Thu, 01 Aug 2013 03:01:29 -0500

You do realize that the legendary version of the cloak, even in its ilvl 600 state STILL has better stats than the 608 version of the DPS cloak. Right? So you're gaining more stats AND gaining a useful proc. Cleave or not, extra free damage is extra free damage, you can still do your normal rotation while the cleave is happening.

Huh ? If the stats do not change again on the PTR, they are still worse than the upgraded epic cloak.

Comment by Rimischonie

on Thu, 01 Aug 2013 04:51:33 -0500

really why giving us so many ways to optain something in the whole addon when the final battle against garrosh is incoming and we can't use them...Why we had worked for months on a weapon 500stats GEM?Why we had worked for months on a secondary slot for weapons?When we can't freaking use them in the final battle?

Wasn't it all from Wrathion that we are prepared and armed for it?Even Lore added it to his post:

So, since you've been working so closely with Wrathion over the course of the expansion already, it makes sense that he'd want to equip you properly for the final resolution of the Alliance vs Horde conflict -- before you set foot in Orgrimmar. And since you've put in so much effort up til this point (starting in patch 5.0 and continuing up through patch 5.3), we don't really need to add more.

Comment by CalaelenDT

on Thu, 01 Aug 2013 05:20:31 -0500

You do realize that the legendary version of the cloak, even in its ilvl 600 state STILL has better stats than the 608 version of the DPS cloak. Right? So you're gaining more stats AND gaining a useful proc. Cleave or not, extra free damage is extra free damage, you can still do your normal rotation while the cleave is happening.

Any version of the Legendary cloak I've seen had the same stats as the Epic version, the only difference was the addition of the proc. So it's most definitely a statloss, for a proc that doesn't seem that amazing.

Comment by m0f0

on Thu, 01 Aug 2013 05:23:30 -0500

LoreYou should be able to get your legendary cloak pretty quickly once Patch 5.4 hits.

I dont think so, i gave up trying to pass de DPS quest, looks like its made for few ones that can do it, not for the average player.

Why one quest is easier and the other one almost impossible? is that "working as intended" or just BS from dev's?

Many "average" players have done the quests and got their cloaks. Use your class abilities to finish it instead of claiming that it's broken, when it clearly is not.

In any case, Lore's statement was about upgrading the epic cloak to the legendary one, which can be done on day one of the patch, not about the entire chain.

Comment by Zuji

on Thu, 01 Aug 2013 06:01:17 -0500

Many "average" players have done the quests and got their cloaks. Use your class abilities to finish it instead of claiming that it's broken, when it clearly is not.

Always works that way: complain it's broken when you don't manage to do it, complain it's faceroll when you do.

Comment by neonjohn

on Thu, 01 Aug 2013 07:53:13 -0500

Can we please get more clarity on the proc for Xing-Ho, Breath of Yu'lon? This proc is not clear, and some of us need to determine if this is going to be amazing (like a legendary should be?) or not.

You do realize that the legendary version of the cloak, even in its ilvl 600 state STILL has better stats than the 608 version of the DPS cloak. Right? So you're gaining more stats AND gaining a useful proc. Cleave or not, extra free damage is extra free damage, you can still do your normal rotation while the cleave is happening.

Any version of the Legendary cloak I've seen had the same stats as the Epic version, the only difference was the addition of the proc. So it's most definitely a statloss, for a proc that doesn't seem that amazing.

Yes. I'm not an anti-Blizz person, but the DPS procs in general seem unimpressive for a legendary cloak and possible stat loss. Do we even know the details of the caster proc yet? The details I've seen are that it will be a weak cleave. Have you seen the proc on Fangs of the Father? YES...those are WEAPONS, I understand this. But THAT is an impressive proc, and what you'd expect from a legendary item (and no, I wouldn't expect a comparable proc from a legendary cloak, but this is a rough comparison of impressiveness/amazingness). An unimaginative 35k cleave when average non-elite mobs have 500k+ hp (and bosses with 1B+ HP), isn't that jaw-dropping.

But maybe that's how Blizz looked at this. Oh, it's just a cloak. Granted, it's BiS, and might be until the next expansion, but meh the proc doesn't need to be impressive.

Comment by Shoadowolf

on Thu, 01 Aug 2013 08:05:52 -0500

Stupid pvp questline is impossible to do for a pve'r. So I guess its the end of the road for me.... :(

Comment by CalaelenDT

on Thu, 01 Aug 2013 08:53:14 -0500

Stupid pvp questline is impossible to do for a pve'r. So I guess its the end of the road for me.... :(

How is winning 2 battlegrounds impossible for a PvE player? Nearly all battlegrounds have obvious objectives such as capturing the flag, controlling a certain point or protecting a minecart. These locations are marked on the map to make it even easier.

If you're still at a loss, just follow a player around and do what he does. Even if you just sit at the spawn area AFK you could still win the battleground if you have a good group (you should NOT do this, but just to show how easy it is to get this quest done).

Comment by rinkworks

on Thu, 01 Aug 2013 09:54:31 -0500

Stupid pvp questline is impossible to do for a pve'r. So I guess its the end of the road for me.... :(

How is winning 2 battlegrounds impossible for a PvE player? Nearly all battlegrounds have obvious objectives such as capturing the flag, controlling a certain point or protecting a minecart. These locations are marked on the map to make it even easier.

If you're still at a loss, just follow a player around and do what he does. Even if you just sit at the spawn area AFK you could still win the battleground if you have a good group (you should NOT do this, but just to show how easy it is to get this quest done).

Agreed. Just keep queueing for the battlegrounds until you win. It may be super frustrating, but ultimately you'll just luck into a group that can overcome the other team with or without your help. Even if you're completely useless, chances are someone on the other team is doing exactly what you're doing, thereby evening the odds. On my server, the wins in the Temple one are about 50-50, so I just queued and played the best I could until I won one. It took 2-3 times, I guess. Silvershard took more like 12, because I'm Alliance and for some reason on my server that one is super Horde-dominant. But I still did it. When I was finally on the winning side, it was a complete slaughter, nearly a perfect score. Had nothing to do with me and everything to do with the teams I got on.

If you do want to improve your own contribution, crafted 458 PvP gear isn't that hard to get. Also note that even if you lose, you still get Honor Points, which can be used to purchase 476 PvP gear. But gearing up isn't even really necessary.

Comment by Rankkor

on Fri, 02 Aug 2013 15:11:56 -0500

You do realize that the legendary version of the cloak, even in its ilvl 600 state STILL has better stats than the 608 version of the DPS cloak. Right? So you're gaining more stats AND gaining a useful proc. Cleave or not, extra free damage is extra free damage, you can still do your normal rotation while the cleave is happening.

Huh ? If the stats do not change again on the PTR, they are still worse than the upgraded epic cloak.

You do realize that the legendary version of the cloak, even in its ilvl 600 state STILL has better stats than the 608 version of the DPS cloak. Right? So you're gaining more stats AND gaining a useful proc. Cleave or not, extra free damage is extra free damage, you can still do your normal rotation while the cleave is happening.

Any version of the Legendary cloak I've seen had the same stats as the Epic version, the only difference was the addition of the proc. So it's most definitely a statloss, for a proc that doesn't seem that amazing.